Prayer

It’s at once the most famous affirmation of Jewish belief—no other sentence in Judaism is more powerful—and the most misunderstood.

Feb. 11 2020 12:01AM

Feelings of awe, and dependence on God, are not the same as devotion.

Oct. 26 2018 12:01AM

Agnon or Herzog?

Tracy Frydberg
April 24 2018 12:01AM

In a biblical book many of whose poems express anxiety and apprehension, Psalm 104 is a confident and joyous singalong.

April 4 2018 12:01AM

A prayer book was edited so that the wicked Greeks became wicked Syrians.

Devin Naar
Dec. 20 2017 12:01AM

The promise and peril of calling angels to bless your Sabbath table.

Sept. 7 2017 12:01AM

At the instigation of a 16th-century sultan.

F.M. Loewenberg
Sept. 5 2017 12:01AM

Where is Jonah’s remorse?

July 21 2017 12:01AM

Modern Orthodoxy vs. humility.

Yaakov Jaffe
July 19 2017 12:01AM

The two great liturgical songs of Yigdal and Adon Olam offer rival attempts to summarize the essence of Judaism.

June 8 2017 12:01AM

More a contract than a prayer.

Benjamin Sommer
Feb. 1 2017 12:01AM

And its unique American variations.

Jan. 18 2017 12:01AM

Nishmat starts with the wide-open sky and the wings of eagles; it ends deep inside the recesses of the body, in our vital organs.

Dec. 28 2016 12:01AM

The ancient priesthood, the Pharisees, the kabbalists, the Ḥasidim—each of these and more have made a stand in the prayer book for what they think Judaism should be.

Oct. 20 2016 12:01AM